Spring Sucks: A weather rant.

 

I'll fight anyone who argues with me.  I won't hit hard...because, you know, my joints hurt.

Hello everyone!

I realize that now that we are midway through April, most people here in the temperate Great Lakes region are rejoicing because Spring is here!

Except for one thing:  Spring in Wisconsin SUCKS!  

While other parts of the country might be enjoying the gradual passing of winter into the brightly colored delights of spring, here in Wisconsin neighborhood, we never know what we're getting.  The last two nights have brought high humidity, wild storms, and even a couple tornado touchdowns.  Our grass is green and growing, but many power lines are down and basements around the state are perhaps a tiny bit flooded, not a lot. We get the big floods every five years or so, and we just had one. So not big flooding, but just enough to annoy a body.

Granted, we don't have the problems of a Florida with the hurricanes or a California who should just about now be starting wildfire and earthquake season, but the barometric pressure around here fluctuates like the overall body temp of a perimenopausal woman.

Because it's not just property damage that makes spring in the Great Lakes region blow chunks.

Spoiler:  You don't.  You just suffer.

I have arthritis. I have it in my toe, my feet, my knees, and my hands.  Spring, with its willy nilly approach to temperatures and humidity content wreaks havoc with my joints every single day.  So from the first thaw in Mid-February until the actually "seven inches from the midday sun" (thank you, Rob Thomas and Santana) of Summer arrives, sometime in late June, I'm in more pain than normal.  It's hard for me to open doorknobs, walk, stand for long periods of time, or really do much of anything.  And before anyone asks, yes, I've had one knee replacement, I'm expecting to do a second one this year, and no, there's not a thing they can do for the feet.  (Which, not at all ironically, is what hurts the worst in the spring.)  I can tolerate Summer because the air pressure is steady.  Same for Winter.  Fall tends to be a little frenetic, but the air is drying out, so it's okay.  But spring...

Oh yeah, and, this year, again, for the second time, I'm experiencing the pressure of the ups and downs in my head. That's right. The ear surgery did not go all that well, in my opinion. My ear is still plugged and the whackadoodle pressure of the weather makes the pressure on the right side of my head unbelievable.

On top of that, it's blooming time here in the Great Lakes.  Now, I haven't been plagued with seasonal allergies, but I can name thirty or forty people in my circle of life who do. Also, I'm starting to get the watery eyes and drippy nose, so the allergies, they are a comin'!

Also, I like a rainy day as much as anyone else.  But COME ON!  It has rained (which triggers my arthritis pain more) just about every day this month.  Or it feels that way.  My doctor told me I'm supposed to get 30 minutes of active movement a day. Great.  How am I supposed to do that when it's raining all the time?  

I could go back to Wii Fit aerobics. That three minute activity followed by the island bike ride used to be my total workout.

Which is why I'm not skinny now.

Oh, and one more thing:  My weight! The minute the dry air of winter blows away, I pack on ten pounds of water weight.  Over night. Immediate.  Predictable.  I can't shake it, and won't shake it until the first freeze. Then, again, over night, I'll lose ten pounds. So what's that about?

But Sarah, many people will say, if you hate it so much, why do you live there?

Fair question.

Hubby has even suggested I pick a place that has a better climate and he'll find a job there.  He can do it, he works for a giant national company. They have jobs all over the country.  But... But...

Guys, I literally just got my dvd collection arranged the way I like it.  How can I pack it all up and move!  Also, and this is key, there is one day a year when Spring is worth it. There is one day a year when the trees on my street all break out their pink and white buds and the grass is so green it hurts to look at it, and the sky is so blue with the fluffiest white clouds you think you're in heaven.  It's seventy, sunny, and not all that humid and there's a light breeze.  One day that makes everything else seem silly to gripe about.

Then that day passes and it starts raining again.  But we get that one day.

So will we relocate?  Who knows.  I love living here, I really do. I just hate it when everyone around me celebrates spring and I want to lie down and do nothing until it gets cold again.

Which it will...literally tomorrow.  I'm in shorts and a t-shirt and considering turning on the AC. And two days from now it's going to freeze. But never fear, it will rain every day this week.  

Okay   Rant over.

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION TIME!

Hello and Happy Last Day of 2019!

Okay, my resolution results for this year were mixed. that means I'm wiser, (read here, OLDER), and I'm ready to make better, (more attainable), resolutions that I am going to work hard to keep (I'm going to dumb down the resolutions so far that I'll barely have to get off the couch to complete them.)

1)  Less focus on steps, more focus on active minutes.

So last year I wanted to up my daily steps to 12,000.  And I wound up tearing a tendon in my foot.  So this year, it's going to be less about getting steps every day and more about being active. And no, I don't mean I'm just going to spend an hour shaking my left wrist so I get active minutes while I'm sitting in a chair.  (I've done that.  You really feel dirty the first couple times you do it.  Also, your left arms starts to ache a lot.)  This year, yes, I will still have a step goal of 10,000 a day, but I'm also going to look at alternative exercises.  It won't just be about the treadmill. I've got Wii Fit. I've got a punching bag and free weights. Let's get some upper body work done!  Less stress on the feet.

2) Less bread all around!

One of the things I did last year was give up bread and any bread products (anything I would spread butter on) up for Lent.  That actually had a really good effect on a number of blood tests I had done this year.  But, in the last few months, I find myself eating more bread and crackers and the like.  Now, I'm not positive it's the bread, it might be the butter as well, but either way, for 2020 my goal is the really make eating bread a rare thing as opposed to something I do every day.

3) Accept the gift 

One of the things I put on my birthday/Christmas wish list to my family was that they get me a cleaning service so that I had time and energy to write more.  Well, hubby didn't hire anyone, he took on many of the household chores himself.  (He already did all the vacuuming and made sure we have clean sheets.)  I, however, have a difficult time accepting this gift and taking time to write. Instead, I still allow household chores to suck up my energy.  I need, in 2020, to make writing a real priority and accept that I've married a prince who is being super helpful!

4)  Stop using the credit cards!

This is a big one. My entire adult life I've struggled with credit card debt.  It's shocking, really, how normal I seem until you see my balances. But this year, while I'm not going to get them all paid off, my goal is to stop using them until I get them under control!  If I'm successful, this will have a profound effect on my weight as well, since I probably won't be eating nearly as much.  This is probably going to be the hardest one to keep, especially at first, since I'm in that nasty cycle of using credit to pay for stuff because I don't have cash because I'm paying credit card bills.  Oooooh, but I have Kohl's cash...and Amazon is just right there...and wouldn't it be fun to go to Half Price Books this weekend?

The struggle continues.

5) Let go. Let God.

The past year or two I've had a real spiritual crisis.  Those of you who know me well know where I struggle, especially when it comes to family.  I inherited my mother's ability to worry myself into sickness.  (Not her great metabolism, no. Her ability to worry, that I get.) Now, as we close out 2019, I feel like some of the issues contributing to my lack of or dormant faith are lifting. I see some major changes in that direction in 2020.  It's my hope that I learn to stop stressing and let God work in His time.  (Last year I resolved to be more patient.  That didn't quite work. So we're going with "let's worry less."  Maybe if I'm less worried I'll be less cranky.) This will be a struggle because I've been a "fixer" in addition to being a worrier.  I've found there are some things I simply cannot fix, and I'm pretty sure it's because God, in His infinite sense of humor, decided it was time for me to learn that lesson.  So, more prayer.  

And finally: On my wedding day, my mother-in-law told me to never mend underwear.  She said, "If you're that desperate for money, I'll send you the $1.59 and you can buy new underwear, but don't bother trying to mend it."  (For the record, I've never taken her up on this offer.)

Her words make so much sense to me now. Don't bother mending the underwear. Don't stress about stuff the just doesn't matter.  Put your energy into what will make your life, and the lives around you, better.  Don't let others drag you down with their petty nonsense.   You can spend a lot of time and energy trying fix some things and in the end they won't stay fixed. They'll fall down, rip, sag, and still be gross in the end.

The problems and ugliness of 2019 is our old, ratty underwear.   Let's all resolve, right now, to get rid of that old, nasty stuff with the rotted elastic and get new, fresh, nice fitting underwear for 2020. 

And the world will be a better place.